BRISBANE Maroons took out the 2015 Australiasian Laser Tag Championships at The Zone in Bendigo last week.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Queensland team edged out the New Zealand Cobras and Adelaide Respawn on the final day of competition.
Bendigo Blitz was the best placed of the four local teams. The team was made up of Mitch Fitzgerald, Philip Clayton, Josh Bibby, Joel Derrick, Elizabeth Peak and Bayley Janssen.
The Blitz finished 10th while the Bendigo Seas came in at 18th, Bendigo Bees finished 24th and Bendigo Defence placed 28th.
Almost 180 people took part in the championships with about 30 teams from all over Australia and New Zealand competiting.
Players are competing in team (six players), triples, doubles and solo competitions.
The points-based scoring system means there are a variety of strategies each team can employ for matches.
Bendigo Blitz co-captain Joel Derrick said there were a veriety of strategies used by all teams during the competitions.
"Generally the teams who destroy the most bases wins but there are other ways of getting points," Derrick said.
"There a lot of strategy to it especially when it comes to in-game tactics."
Brisbane player Ben Baker proved to be one of the hardest competitors to beat when he won four out of the five events he was entered in.
Mr Baker won the teams event and the solo competition as well as the doubles and masters events.
The only event he didn't win was the triples competition which was won by Bendigo players Fitzgerald, Clayton and Bibby.
Fitzgerald and Clayton also finished in 8th and 9th positions in the solo event. Bendigo's Joel Derrick (10th), Bibby (13th) and Andrew de Selvo (28th) also placed in the top 30 (out of 150) solo players at the championships.
Owner-manager of The Zone Ben Janssen said this year's hosting efforts were more successful than the first time The Zone hosted in 2007.
"We did a lot more including a total maze rebuild to get the laser arenas ready for competition," he said.
"We also had to get the areas ready with more audio and visual elements implemented.
"There was also video footage of the whole event.
"But outside of results, it is the social aspect of the tournament we are interested in."
Next year's championships will be hosted in Brisbane before Adelaide hosts the 2017 event.
"There is a lot of preparation for 2016. It starts with training and members nights," Mr Janssen said.
"There are some pre-nationals tournaments held a few times through the year before the championships."
Anyone interested in taking up laser tag on a more competitive basis should contact The Zone on 5441 7046.